A Betta has Friends
…or not.
So, my mother overheard me one day saying that I was tired of looking at one fish. I love my betta, but I am used to having more fish around. My parents have a 50 gallon tank that always has a nice group of fish in it. So, this is what I am used to.
But I have a betta, and you have to be careful what you put in the tank with it. I have read that they not only attack each other, but will attack any fish that they think are male.
So, I had a down day earlier in the week, and, later, my mother bought me two more fish.
She got me two tiger barbs, which I know can be quite aggressive themselves. I guess the idea was that they would be able to hold their own against the betta.
What I did not know was that tiger barbs, being schooling fish, can be even more aggressive if they are in groups smaller than five, and they are known fin nippers. Um. not the kind of thing that you want to have around the beautiful tail of a male betta.
So, initially, the betta seemed to be doing fine. The betta knows who’s tank it is and who was there first. The betta was chasing the tiger barbs away mostly, or they were all leaving each other alone. However, there was one morning when I went to feed the fish and the betta came up as usual, but the tiger barbs went right for the tail and scared the betta away. I am pretty sure that the betta did not eat at all that day. So, then I started to worry.
The next day, it was the other way around. The betta was chasing the tiger barbs away. Then the days following, they were all eating peacefully without bothering each other. This has been the pattern lately. I keep checkin the betta’s tail to make sure that there is nothing nipped or otherwise wrong with it. So far, so good. I guess I will just not worry about it and if there seems to be a problem, then maybe I will get a few more tiger barbs. In the meantime, here they are:
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